People We Love: Lynn Nottage

Playwright Lynn Nottage is the winner of numerous accolades and prestigious prizes for her work, including the MacArthur Genius Award.

Shocked by news from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where many women have suffered rape and trauma in the long-standing civil war, Nottage applied her talent to drawing attention to their situation.

Nottage traveled to refugee camps in Africa to interview women survivors of sexual assault and armed conflict. She incorporated their lives and experience into Ruined, a powerful play that conveys damage but also love and resilience.

Ruined won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2009. The touring production educates audiences on issues of conflict, development, and violence, and raises funds for health providers for women, like Panzi Hospital in Congo.

Interested?

: Go behind the scenes of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer-prize winning play.

Tiffany Ran wrote this article for What Happy Families Know, the Winter 2011 issue of YES! Magazine. Tiffany is an editorial assistant for YES! Magazine.